Is Brewers’ Coleman Crow Bound For MLB Roster?

Crow was drafted in the 28th round by the Los Angeles Angels out of high school in the 2019 MLB draft. The Angels coveted Crow so much that they enticed him with a $317,500 signing bonus, which is the equivalent of the money a 5th-rounder would get.

After toiling in the rookie leagues in 2019 and losing his 2020 season due to COVID, Crow’s minor league career began in earnest in 2021. Pitching for Inland Empire in low-A ball, the 20-year-old Crow went 4-3 with a 4.19 ERA that first year.

Crow was promoted to double-A in 2022 to pitch for the Rocket City Trash Pandas, where he posted a 9-3 record. The following season, he was invited as a non-roster player to the Angels’ major-league camp. His 2023 season started well, and he was 2-0 with a sparkling 1.88 ERA in his first four starts. The positive trend turned sour in May when he was placed on the injured list.

As it turned out, that was the last time Crow would pitch in the Angels system. On June 24, 2023, he was traded to the Mets, but before throwing a pitch with his new team, he would undergo Tommy John surgery in August.

While he was rehabilitating his arm, Crow was traded from the Mets to the Brewers in exchange for pitcher Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor. He was finally able to return late in 2024 for Milwaukee’s Arizona Fall League team, and he pitched in just two games with Peoria.

2025 was a brand-new start with a brand-new team for Crow, who began last season with Biloxi, Milwaukee’s double-A squad. Crow was a perfect 4-0 in ten starts, and he notched 52 strikeouts in just 43 innings and earned the June Pitcher of the Month in the Southern League.

Cam Castro, the Brewers’ senior VP of player development and performance, knew what Milwaukee was getting when it traded for Crow. He also acknowledged the need for patience with his investment.

“We want to be conscientious of the workload, but it’s great to see him pitching again,” he said in 2025. “This is a guy that we’ve been excited about for a long time. When you get dealt for Major League value as many times as he has, there’s a reason.”

That stellar work earned him an advancement to Triple-A Nashville, where he finished the season.

The steady and consistent pitching Crow has displayed, along with his vast potential, has made him a popular topic of conversation this spring.

Coleman Crow Added To Brewers’ 40-Man Roster

The Brewers feel so strongly about Crow’s future that they added him to the 40-man roster. The move protects Crow from being selected by another team during the Rule 5 Draft, more than likely because Milwaukee has plans for him in the very near future.

One of the biggest assets owned by Crow is his incredible spin rate and the versatility he has with his pitches. His mid-70s curveball is his “out pitch,” averaging around 3,000 RPMs. His fastball sits in the low to mid-90s and also features above-average spin, but it’s the command and confidence in his breaking ball that make his breaking ball so effective.

This week, MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy named Crow as Milwaukee’s top dark horse candidate to make the big club this spring.

McCalvy wrote: “The Brewers begin the spring with fewer question marks than recent years, but one of the big unknowns is how they’ll fill out a pitching staff that is short of candidates to log 30 starts and 200 innings, and long on multi-inning bullpen options who will be critical to covering the middle innings. Aaron Ashby and DL Hall are known commodities in that role, but manager Pat Murphy also mentioned Crow as a possibility after the 25-year-old was added to the 40-man roster last fall.”

End Of My Coleman Crow Rant: Health Matters

Crow has yet to appear in the Cactus League this spring for the Brewers, but that will certainly change soon. The Milwaukee staff wants to give him as much of a look as possible before determining his placement within their system.

The elephant in the room has been and continues to be Crow’s health and ability to avoid injuries. When active, he has proven to be a steady, if not stellar, performer at each step towards the major leagues. To keep rising the ranks, Crow’s best ability must be “availability.”